The Chocolatier

by FableTail

Prologue/Chapter 1

This is the story of a chocolatier. Or, rather, a mare with a dream. A dream to climb to the highest spot in the chocolate-y confectionery Canterlot Chocolatier ranks. A spot so high, but so very close. So close she could smell the dizzying aroma of the best chocolate treats, and their creators. This is the story of the greatest chocolatier, in all of Canterlot.

At least, it would be if we were starting from there, but no. We are starting our story eight months after she topped the charts and achieved her dream. Seven months after her candy shop was brimming with customers and demands and the sweet smell of so many different types of chocolate. Five months after the orders and the pictures and the fame began to bring a sense of dread, and four months after the top chocolatier shut down her shop and left Canterlot.

The setting of our tale in the quiet town of Sleepy Fallow. Once a hotspot for tourists, Sleepy Fallow is now a large town with empty areas and a thinly spread population. Places that once catered to hundreds of tourists a day are now vacant lots, sitting around with no one to care for them. And while the townsponies talk about renovating the old places to put in new stores or homes, no plans or permits have been passed and the town is left half deserted.

For now, Sleepy Fallow’s residents slumber; tucked away in their beds as the moon rises high in the sky. Few places are left open to cater to the late night ponies who are mostly adolescents or young adults. One store that is nearing its closing time is a sweet little bakery called ‘Dreamy Confections’.

Filled with mainly chocolate desserts, the bakery is nestled in between an apartment complex and a laundry mat. Any odors from the other two buildings are blocked out by the heavenly scent that wafts from its open doors like an enticing whisper.

Dreamy Confections is run by a stocky stallion in his 40s, whose size intimidates any stranger. He is thick-skinned and thinning fur, with a few scars along his muscular legs. But everypony in the town who likes sweets knows the big pony’s an equally big softy. In his old age he had decided to hire on two ponies to help him with the bakery.

He hired a hard-working, gentle stallion named Brown Sugar, and his most recent employee, our once famous chocolatier. And finally, this is where are story begins.

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“Decadence! I’m heading home, can you close up here by yourself?” The booming voice of Sergeant Sweets called, accompanied by his bleakly tan furred face peering from in the bakery’s kitchen. His chef hat was already taken off and the strings to his apron undone, looking like a large and clumsy old earth pony. Which he was not. Clumsy, that is.

“I’d be delighted to, sir.” The chocolatier responded while cleaning the cooking utensils. She whipped her dirty blonde mane out of her eyes and continued cleaning up, waving goodbye to her employer before he left.

She listened to the jingle from the bakery doors and then smiled a little to herself. The mare then set her work aside and moved over to the chocolate station, as she likes to call it. With bowls, cacao beans, cocoa butter, and an assortment of other ingredients, objects, and tools for creating delectable chocolates from scratch, she began mixing up a new recipe for Hearts and Hooves Day.

She did not have much time to experiment during the work day, but she had always held on to the hope that one day she’d be left alone in the bakery to test her skills.

Even though she was no longer a professional, famous chocolatier, she was still a lover of the fine art of chocolate. She especially loved to make heart-shaped chocolates for special someponies to give to one another. That is how she gained her cutie mark, after all!

Before she could ride a trip down memory lane, Decadence heard a beeping noise and almost dropped her mixing spoon. She set it in the bowl, positioning it so it wouldn’t slide all the way into the chocolate, and pranced over to the dishwasher.

The mare continued to juggle cleaning duties and her own little baking project for a good hour or so before she realized it was getting late. So she taste-tested her experiment, mentally made a note of some other ingredients she’d need to pick up in the morning, and then put all of her things away.

Now all that was left was to take out the trash. A job she wish she’d asked Brown Sugar or the Sergeant to take care of, as the dumpster was in an alley. A dark alley. And, well, Decadence didn’t enjoy dark alleys. Or trash really, but still.

Reluctantly the brown dipped mare took all the garbage from the garbage bins and dumped it in a large black trash bag. After drawing the strings tightly with her teeth, she picked up the bag and wished she had a horn to levitate things with.

But instead she had her mouth, so she dragged the bag out the side door of the bakery and down the darkening alleyway. The moon was blocked by the apartment complex, but she could see a light from the window on the top floor, so she wasn’t stuck in total darkness.

The air began to smell less like delicious treats and more like garbage, so Decadence switched from using her chompers to drag the bag, to using her fore hooves. She didn’t have a lot of experience with trying to walk on her back legs but somehow the mare managed it as she reached the dumpster and threw the bag into it.

The dull thud let her know her job here was done, and she began trotting back to the bakery.

But she stopped as her ears perked up at the sound of faint, metallic rustling. She raised her head and stood very still, ears raised as high as they could go as they flickered around in an attempt to catch the noises’ location.

The sound did not come again. And with the closing darkness of the alley making her shift a little in her hooves, she finally decided that whatever the sound was was not worth waiting around, and she bolted for the shop, knocking over a cardboard box in her scramble.

She didn’t look behind her as she slammed the door shut with her back leg and then blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the bright kitchen light.

One, two, three, four… She counted her breaths as her heart slowed down, and her anxiety faded. The tension in her shoulders didn’t, but her legs no longer felt locked and she began to move shakily away from the side door and towards the front of the bakery.

The fear stayed with her for another hour or so even after she got home, but eventually she fell asleep in her foalhood bed, and dreamed of a Canterlot city made out of chocolate and gold.

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“Oh honey! What a delicious looking gift.” Decadence listened to the sweet exchange between a loving couple. The stallion was smiling brightly at his marefriend who held a red heart-shaped box that was opened to reveal many small little chocolate treats. A red ribbon that had kept the box closed was wrapped around the Mare’s neck as a recycled accessory.

Decadence wasn’t eavesdropping. They were speaking loud enough for anyone in the small restaurant to hear. Even if she was listening in, it wouldn’t be weird. The couple were sharing a box of chocolates that Decadence had made herself! What chocolatier wouldn’t want to see two lovebirds eating their finely crafted confections?

However soon their conversation became a more private one, and Decadence turned her attention back on the Sleepy Fallow Newspaper. There wasn’t much news, there hadn’t been since the tourists stopped coming, but that did not change Decadences’ attitude. She was just glad they weren’t talking about her return anymore.

The first week she got back from Canterlot the whole town was abuzz, even the ponies on the farthest part of the town limits. Everyone was excited that their born and raised Sleepy Fallow-in had become a famous chocolatier and was wondering why she’d come back to the dreary town.

Decadence had to hide out in her parent’s home, where she was still staying, and wait awhile until any journalists that had followed her had gone back to Canterlot.

When that mess was over she made it clear to the other residents of Sleepy Fallow that she did not want to publicly discuss her decision to return home, and since she’d grown up with these ponies and they respected each other, they stopped asking.

And while Decadence had planned not to get back to working for a while, she couldn't resist the ‘Hiring’ sign hung on the ‘Dreamy Confections’ window. So, she applied and was hired right away.

So now here she is, completely melded back into Sleepy Fallow. Like chocolate drizzling through the cracks she’s home and feeling much better compared to when she was in Canterlot.

“Hello! Have you decided on what you would like for breakfast?” Decadence smiled softly and ordered a chocolate chip pancake from the pink mare, who nodded and then waved goodbye before heading off to get her food.

It was a wonderful meal that had her taste buds buzzing by the time she was ready to get to work. Her trot to the bakery was uneventful, which just a few ponies passing by and waving hello to her. She was a bit rusty in her street manners department, unfortunately. Living in the higher district of Canterlot meant that when ponies passed, there wasn’t much mingling or acknowledgment. It had taken Decadence a few months to stop smiling at every pony she’d see.

Not only did she have to re-adjust to the open kindness shared by her town, but she’d also have to get used to the fact that there weren't many people living in Sleepy Fallow. The tourists that once populated the town were gone, and with it some old residents who were no longer making money from their businesses that required the tourists.

So Sleepy Fallow often felt lonely, the liveliest of places being the school during the weekdays, arcades at night, and some restaurants. Even Dreamy Confections was slow in business most days, with rare moments when a flux of customers would crowd in. Like the day Decadence first started working there.

But the excitement died down quickly and the town fell back into its lulling routine. Decadence is glad for the lack of demands and no longer having to cut back the care she put into her works so she can get them out and in the customer’s bellies on time. Now she can give each delectable craft the attention it deserves, and even give her co-worker Brown Sugar some tips.

The population on the streets thinned the closer she got to the bakery, and she felt a bit disappointed at this. If they didn't get the after-school regulars then it seemed there might not be any customers today.

Pushing that thought to the side Decadence brought her demeanor up to a cheery outlook and trotted through the doors of Dreamy Confections, ears twitching at the jingle that accompanied her entrance.

Sergeant Sweets greeted her with a gruff hello, and the chocolatier smiled at him, waving a hoof.

“Brown Sugar’s on break, he’ll be back in 20 minutes.” The ex-guard announced, looking down at her from his huge height. “Nice work closing up yesterday.” He added in a warmer tone, making Decadence feel a bit giddy. Sergeant Sweets hardly ever gave verbal praise.

“Thank you sir.” She saluted him and he returned the gesture with gusto. Then Decadence headed passed the display of already baked treats and into the backroom/kitchen. There she adorned her chocolatier-ing outfit, which included a white chef’s coat, and a white chef hat like the Sergeants’. She then tightened the orange handkerchief around her neck, and the matching bow tied on her tail. Finally the blonde mare was ready, and she went straight to cleaning up the utensils already used by Brown Sugar this morning.

Decadence dressed and looked like a professional gourmet chocolatier from Canterlot, and she had been once, but nowadays she cleaned and prepared the kitchen for Sergeant Sweets or Brown Sugar to bake. She herself wasn’t very good at baking. She could make the best chocolate in Equestria, she could mix flavors, and mold the chocolate into any shape she so desired, but she couldn’t bake the croissants or cakes or even doughnuts that she drizzled the chocolate on.

So in Dreamy Confections she was tasked with keeping the bakery clean and in order, with some chocolate-making and decorating when and where it was needed. Decadence didn’t mind the steep, steep, drop in her role in the shop. She didn’t even mind the even steeper drop in her wages. As long as she was here in Sleepy Fallow and still making chocolate, she was happy.

Later that day, around mid-afternoon, Decadence came up with an idea that would allow her to never have to take out the trash alone in a dark alley ever again! It came to her when she saw the trash bin was almost full-, the after-school regulars brought their friends and had a little dessert party for somepony’s birthday-, and had to take it to the dumpster so more trash could be thrown away. She realized she could take out the trash around 4 or 5 pm every day, or at least when it fills, so she wouldn’t have to deal with it after hours.

So this time her trot to the dumpster wasn’t filling her with heart-jumping fear. The alley was still a bit eerie, but lit from the sun above (though waning), allowing her to actually see all the way down the alley.

The trash wasn’t as heavy this time so she used her teeth to carry it to the dumpster before tossing it in, listening for the familiar soft thud, and then turning to trot back to the bakery side door.

But the soft thud wasn’t the only sound she heard. It was accompanied soon after with a muffled ‘ow!’ that sent Decadence’s ears pinning back and her legs locking up again. It wasn’t scary. Just sudden and unexpected and surprising!

Decadence didn’t have time to high tail it back to the bakery, because her attention was drawn back to the dumpster as its lids slammed open and something popped out, flinging half eaten cupcakes and wrappers all around.